South Australia’s economic future could well lie in food, healthcare, education and tourism, the latest edition of BankSA’s Trends economic bulletin suggests.
The report, released last month, examines the postponed benefits of a hoped for mining boom in South Australia and the need to refocus on other economic opportunities.
The BankSA report, compiled in conjunction with Deloitte Access Economics, explores this impact on the national as well as the South Australian economies.
Last year’s announcement by BHP Billiton that it would delay the much-anticipated expansion of Olympic Dam was tough news and came on top of the damage done to a number of businesses by the strength in the Australian dollar and by Australia’s relatively high interest rates.
In May 2013, BankSA State Monitor showed that business and consumer confidence levels fell to record lows. Only recently have we seen a rebound to more positive levels, as reported through the September BankSA State Monitor confidence survey.
As the Trends bulletin, and many other similar economic reports regularly state, SA can look to nearby Asia’s expanding populations and their demands to help fuel our own growth.
Trends highlights that as Asia gets both richer and its populations get older, the sorts of the demands it makes on the world, including South Australian businesses, will change and open up a range of new opportunities for expansion.
Asia is still growing and its populations are becoming increasingly sophisticated. As it gets both richer and older, it will need more food, improved housing and healthcare and populations will look for more travel opportunities and higher levels of education. South Australia already enjoys a proven track record in these fields.
As this issue highlights, the future is brighter than many people realise. It is true that South Australia has been late to the resources boom and delays to the Olympic Dam expansion were a disappointment. But recent falls in exchange and interest rates are good news for the State and there are a range of sectors which can expect to do particularly well in coming years.
These gains won’t come easily and sector by sector, there are important challenges that will need to be met, but the work will be worth it.
